Before we had insulin, diabetic people could only try to medicate themselves through their diet, this is advices from 1917, which actually are quite relevant today, why not try to change the diet the best one can, before starting to medicate?

Found an interesting article, about amish people, I guess we all can learn some things about how to take care about ourselves, to maintain a healthy lifestyle…

When we think of Amish people we think of a simple life, free of modern advancements. Most of us view them as foolish for not using the advantages of convenient technology and even look down on them for not conforming to the norms of mainstream society. But if we look at the statistics, the Amish are much healthier than the rest of America. They virtually have no cancer, no autism, and rarely get sick. What are they doing different from the rest of America? Let’s look at some of the things they are doing different (here).

Why the Amish Don’t Get Sick

The Amish have chosen the traditional wisdom of our ancestors over our “modern” way of living. They live by the practices of past generations.

1. The Amish Don’t Get Vaccinated.

Did you know that Amish people rarely have any learning disabilities or autism. There have been only 3 cases of autism among the amish in which the kids got vaccinated (here). Instead of crediting their lack of autism to the absence of vaccines, mainstream society credits it to a superior gene that the Amish possess. In spite of constant pressure from the government, the Amish still refuse to vaccinate. You can read more about the dangers of vaccines – here.Vaccine-nation: Poisoning the Population, One Shot at a Time

2. The Amish Eat Organic, Locally Grown Food.

The Amish not only avoid prepackaged and processed food, they actually grow all of their food using organic farming methods. They raise their own animals; their food is natural and gmo free (the dangers of gmo). It’s important to note that they eat seasonal food during the harvest months, and save the rest by canning and fermenting. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are nutritionally higher in value. They are filled with anti-oxidants that are of great benefit to our health. Anti-oxidants fight free radicals, which helps you stay healthy and young. Thus, the lack of ADHD, food allergies and asthma can be undeniably contributed to their diet.

3. The Amish Eat Plenty of Healthy Fats.

The Amish have a very low obesity rate despite their high fat diet. Their eating habits by all means are not low fat. They eat plenty of butter, meat, eggs, raw dairy. Foods like butter and raw grass fed dairy contains a lot of fat soluble vitamins such as A, E and K2. It’s important to note that Vitamin K2 is very insufficient in modern diets. All that low fat nonsense has depleted our bodies from these essential nutrients. Vitamin K2 is particularly important as it is involved in calcium metabolism. Vitamin K insufficiency leads to many diseases such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and even cancer.

4. The Amish People are Physically Active.

Compared to the overall 31 % obesity rate in America, the Amish only have a 3 percent obesity rate. Since they don’t use cars, or any modern technologies, their level of physical activity is very high: men averaged 18,000 steps a day and women 14,000. They walk a lot and are truly involved in physical labor which reflects in their extremely low rate of cardiovascular diseases. Accodring to David R. Bassett, Ph.D., FACSM, a professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, “The Amish were able to show us just how far we’ve fallen in the last 150 years or so in terms of the amount of physical activity we typically perform. Their lifestyle indicates that physical activity played a critical role in keeping our ancestors fit and healthy.”

5. The Amish Live Stress Free Lives

Stress is probably the number one culprit to our health problems. When you are stressed, your cortisol levels get elevated which is extremely dangerous for your health in the long run. Health problems associated with stress include heart disease, adrenal fatigue, hormonal imbalances, high blood sugar levels, elevated cholesterol and obesity.

The Amish live in a stress free community. They live slow paced, patient lifestyles. They don’t compete with each other; they created a egalitarian community for themselves where their lifestyles are based on equality, cooperation and harmony. (here)

The Amish live the same way they lived 300 years ago and we can definitely can learn some lessons from them. They live toxic, free self sustainable lives. They are not plagued with various diseases and they are much healthier than the rest of America.

Some things that’s not mentioned in this article is alcohol and tobacco, as I understand it they might drink and smoke, but to a much lesser degree than the rest of the “outside” world, they might drink wine, and when they smoke, they smoke cigars and pipes. I found a link about smoking:http://amishamerica.com/do-amish-smoke/

The Dark Side of Fast Food: Why does it make you sick/fat/tired/taste so good?

and here’s the text from youtube about the video:

Publicerad den 21 aug 2013

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (2001) is a book by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser that examines the local and global influence of the United States fast food industry.

First serialized by Rolling Stone in 1999, the book has drawn comparisons to Upton Sinclair’s classic muckraking novel The Jungle. The book was adapted into a film of the same name, directed by Richard Linklater.

The book is divided into two sections, “The American Way,” which interrogates the beginnings of the Fast Food Nation within the context of post-World War II America; and “Meat and Potatoes,” which examines the specific mechanizations of the fast-food industry, including the chemical flavoring of the food, the production of cattle and chickens, the working conditions of beef industry, the dangers of eating meat, and the global context of fast food as an American cultural export.

Fast Food Nation opens with discussion of Carl N. Karcher and the McDonalds brothers, examining their roles as pioneers of the fast-food industry in southern California. This discussion is followed by an examination of Ray Kroc and Walt Disney’s complicated relationship as well as each man’s rise to fame. This chapter also considers the intricate, profitable methods of advertising to children. Next, Schlosser visits Colorado Springs, CO and investigates the life and working conditions of the typical fast-food industry employee: fast-food restaurants employ the highest rate of low-wage workers, have among the highest turnover rates, and pay minimum wage to a higher proportion of its employees than any other American industry.

The second section of the text begins with a discussion of the chemical components that make the food taste so good. Schlosser follows this with a discussion of the life of a typical rancher, considering the difficulties presented to the agriculture world in a new economy. Schlosser is perhaps most provocative when he critiques the meatpacking industry, which he tags as the most dangerous job in America. Moreover, the meat produced by slaughterhouses has become exponentially more hazardous since the centralization of the industry: the way cattle are raised, slaughtered, and processed provides an ideal setting for E coli to spread. Additionally, working conditions continue to grow worse. In the final chapter, Schlosser considers how fast food has matured as an American cultural export following the Cold War: the collapse of Soviet Communism has allowed the mass spread of American goods and services, especially fast food. As a result, the rest of the world is catching up with America’s rising obesity rates.

The book continues with an account of the evolution of fast food and how it has coincided with the advent of the automobile. Schlosser explains the transformation from countless independent restaurants to a few uniform franchises. “The extraordinary growth of the fast food industry has been driven by fundamental changes in American society… During that period, women entered the workforce in record numbers, often motivated less by a feminist perspective than by a need to pay the bills. In 1975, about one-third of American mothers with young children worked outside the home; today almost two-thirds of such mothers are employed. As the sociologists Cameron Lynne Macdonald and Carmen Sirianni have noted, the entry of so many women into the workforce has greatly increased demand for the types of services that housewives traditionally perform: cooking, cleaning, and child care. A generation ago, three-quarters of the money used to buy food in the United States was spent to prepare meals at home. Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants – mainly at fast food restaurants.”

Regarding the topic of child-targeted marketing, Schlosser explains how the McDonald’s Corporation modeled its marketing tactics on The Walt Disney Company, which inspired the creation of advertising icons such as Ronald McDonald and his sidekicks. Marketing executives intended that this marketing shift would result not only in attracting children, but their parents and grandparents as well. More importantly, the tactic would instill brand loyalty that would persist through adulthood through nostalgic associations to McDonald’s. Schlosser also discusses the tactic’s ills: the exploitation of children’s naïveté and trusting nature.

In marketing to children, Schlosser suggests, corporations have infiltrated schools through sponsorship and quid pro quo. He sees that reductions in corporate taxation have come at the expense of school funding, thereby presenting many corporations with the opportunity for sponsorship with those same schools. According to his sources, 80% of sponsored textbooks contain material that is biased in favor of the sponsors, and 30% of high schools offer fast foods in their cafeterias.

McDonald’s doesn’t think its employees should eat the food they serve.

The fast food giant has advised employees to avoid meals with burgers and fries and to eat healthier options like salad and sandwiches.

The advice was dispensed on the now-infamous McResource Line, the employees-only website that has told workers to sell their things and get second jobs to make ends meet.

Good idea, bad idea: McDonald’s didn’t think its employees should eat the food they serve, as seen in this graph from their staff website McResource Line, which was pulled down this week

The advice is given with graphics depicting the ‘unhealthy choice’ and the ‘healthier choice.’ McDonald’s own food is in the former column. Despite featuring a vast array of deep fried delicacies, the Golden Arches reminds employees that ‘avoiding items that are deep fried are your best bet.’ The sensible advice also tells McWorkers to ‘limit the extras such as cheese, bacon and mayonnaise.’ Tasty add-ons that are staples of many menu items they serve on a daily basis. A hamburger, fries and soda are warned against, because ‘eating a diet high in fat puts people at rick for becoming overweight.’ Many locations offer steep food discounts and short breaks to employees, virtually forcing them to eat the unhealthy food, often forcing the hand of workers without the time or means to eat elsewhere.

Solid advice: Don’t eat at McDonald’s. The fast food chain were forced to admit the embarrassing and ‘outdated’ information on their site has lead to a temporarily shutdown for ‘upgrades’ ‘It is hard to eat a healthy diet when you eat at fast-food restaurants often,’ the advice continues. ‘Many foods are cooked with a lot of fat, even if they are not trans fats. Many fast-food restaurants do not offer any lower-fat foods.’

The world’s largest fast food chain wants employees to eat elsewhere.‘Eat at places that offer a variety of salads, soups, and vegetables,’ the site says.

As they say in the video, the 64 000 dollar question is why the government put so much effort into shut down all these small farmers, to ban this…. one would think that it’s good to eat healthy, local grown food…

SWAT Team Raids Ohio Co-op

On Monday, December 1, a SWAT team with semi-automatic rifles entered the private home of the Stowers family in LaGrange, Ohio, herded the family onto the couches in the living room, and kept guns trained on parents, children, infants and toddlers, from approximately 11 AM to 8 PM. The team was aggressive and belligerent. The children were quite traumatized. At some point, the “bad cop” SWAT team was relieved by another team, a “good cop” team that tried to befriend the family. The Stowers family has run a very large, well-known food cooperative calledManna Storehouse on the western side of the greater Cleveland area for many years. [Update]

There were agents from the Department of Agriculture present, one of them identified as Bill Lesho. The search warrant is reportedly suspicious-looking. Agents began rifling through all of the family’s possessions, a task that lasted hours and resulted in a complete upheaval of every private area in the home. Many items were taken that were not listed on the search warrant. The family was not permitted a phone call, and they were not told what crime they were being charged with. They were not read their rights. Over ten thousand dollars worth of food was taken, including the family’s personal stock of food for the coming year. All of their computers, and all of their cell phones were taken, as well as phone and contact records. The food cooperative was virtually shut down. There was no rational explanation, nor justification, for this extreme violation of Constitutional rights.

Presumably Manna Storehouse might eventually be charged with running a retail establishment without a license. Why then the Gestapo-type interrogation for a 3rd degree misdemeanor charge? This incident has raised the ominous specter of a restrictive new era in State regulation and enforcement over the nation’s private food supply.

This same type of abusive search and seizure was reported by those innocents who fell victim to oppressive federal drug laws passed in the 1990s. The present circumstance raises the obvious question: is there some rabid new interpretation of an existing drug law that considers food a controlled substance worthy of a nasty SWAT operation? Or worse, is there a previously unrecognized provision(s) pertaining to food in the Homeland Security measures? Some have suggested that it was merely an out-of-control, hot-to-trot ODA agent, and, if so, this would be a best-case scenario. Anything else might spell the beginning of the end for the freedom to eat unregulated and unmonitored food.

“Interestingly, I believe they [Manna Storehouse] said a month or so ago, an undercover ODA official came to their little store and claimed to have a sick father wanting to join the co-op. Both the owner and her daughter-in-law had a horrible feeling about the man, and decided not to allow him into the co-op and notified him by certified mail. He came back to the co-op demanding to be part of it. They refused and gave him names of other businesses and health food stores closer to his home. Not coincidentally, this man was there yesterday as part of the raid.”

The same blog also noted that the Ohio Department of Agriculture has been chastised by the courts in several previous instances for its aggression, including trying to entrap an Amish man in a raw milk “sale,” which backfired when it became known that the Amish believe in a literal interpretation of “give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” (Matthew 5:42)

The issue appears to be the discovery of a bit of non-institutional beef in an Oberlin College food service freezer a year ago that was tracked down by a county sanitation official to Manna Storehouse. Oberlin College’s student food coop is widely known for its strident ideological stance about eating organic foods. It seems that the Oberlin student food cooperative had joined the Manna Storehouse food cooperative in order to buy organic foods in bulk from the national organic food distributor United, which services buying clubs across the nation. The sanitation official, James Boddy, evidently contacted the Ohio Department of Agriculture. After the first contact by state ODA officials, Manna Storehouse reportedly wrote them a letter requesting assistance and guidelines for complying with the law. This letter was never answered. Rather, the ODA agent tried several times to infiltrate the coop, as described above. When his attempts failed, the SWAT team showed up!

Food cooperatives and buying clubs have been an active part of the American landscape for over a generation. In the 1970s, with the rise of the organic food industry (a direct outgrowth of the hippie back-to-nature movement) food coops started up all over the country. These were groups of people who freely associated for the purpose of combining their buying power so that they could order organic food items in bulk and case lots. Anyone who was part of these coops in the early era will remember the messy breakdown of 35 pounds of peanut butter and 5 gallon drums of honey!

These buying clubs have persisted and flourished over the years due to their ability to purchase high quality organic foods at reduced prices in bulk quantities. Most cooperatives have participated greatly in the local agrarian economies, supporting neighborhood organic farmers with purchases of produce, eggs, chickens, etc. The groups also purchase food from a number of different local, regional and national distributors, many of them family-based businesses who truck the food themselves. Some of these food cooperatives have become large enough to set up mini-storefront operations where members can drop in and purchase items leftover from case lot sales. Manna Storehouse had established itself in such a manner, using a small enclosed breezeway attached to their home. It was a folksy place with old wooden floors where coop members stopped by to chat and snack on bags of organic corn chips.

The state of Ohio boasts the second largest Amish population in the country. Many of the Amish live on acreages where they raise their own food, not unlike Manna Storehouse, and sell off the extras to neighbors and church members. There is a sense of foreboding that this state crackdown on a longstanding, reputable food cooperative operation could adversely impact the peaceful agrarian way of life not only for the Amish, but homeschoolers and those families living off the land on rural acreages. It raises the disturbing possibility that it could become a crime to raise your own food, buy eggs from the farmer down the road, or butcher your own chickens for family and friends – bustling activities that routinely take place in backwater America.

The freedom to purchase food directly form the source is increasingly under attack. Forthose who have food allergies and chemical intolerances, or who are on special medical diets, this is becoming a serious health issue. Will Americans retain the right to purchase food that is uncontaminated by pesticides, herbicides, allergens, additives, dyes, preservatives, MSG, GMOs, radiation, etc.? The melamine scare from China underscores the increasingly inferior and suspect quality of modern processed institutional foods. One blog, commenting on the bizarre and troubling Manna Storehouse situation, observed that:

“No one is saying exactly why. At the same time the FDA says it is safe to eat the 40% of tainted beef found in Costco’s and Sam’s all over the nation. These farm raids are very common now. Every farmer needs to fully equipped [sic] for the possibility of it happening to them.The Farmer To Consumer Legal Defense Fund was created just for this purpose. The USDA just released their plans to put a law into action that will put all small farmers out of business. Animals for the sale of meat or milk will only be allowed in commercial farms, even the organic ones.”December 3, 2008 7:09 PM

PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP — An Ohio Department of Agriculture agent seized food, electronic devices and documents from a Pittsfield Township organic and natural food cooperative believed to be unlicensed, according to a search warrant filed yesterday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. Jacqueline and John Stowers, owners of the Manna Storehouse, 43565 SR 303, were inspected in November 2007 by the Lorain County General Health District, according to court records.

On Monday, ODA enforcement agent William Lesho confiscated hundreds of pounds of processed beef and large amounts of lamb, turkey and other perishable products in addition to office files, a computer, two cell phones and other electronic devices, according to the search warrant inventory. The items were taken to establish the Stowers’ ownership in any property, records of hidden wealth or illegal income and anything that would establish illegal activity, according to the search warrant affidavit. Jacqueline Stowers declined to comment because she had not seen the court papers yesterday evening.

A health district sanitarian and two other inspectors visited the cooperative on Nov. 30, 2007, to make observations and were told to leave. Jacqueline Stowers wrote in a December 2007 letter to the sanitarian that the inspectors never had permission to be on their property and that the Manna Storehouse is not operating a retail food establishment that requires a license. “We declare now that we do not want to be a ‘licensed retail food establishment’ or a ‘food service operation’ and we do not plan to become one in the future and that we will not knowingly conduct any activities that would require that type of licensing,” she wrote.

The matter was forwarded to the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office after the Lorain County General Health District received her letter, according to court records.

August 3, 2011 — Los Angeles, California — Public Health Officials today descended once again on a buying club, that specializes in raw foods. Club organizer, James Stewart was arrested at his home, the locks to his personal residence were changed, his papers, money and computer seized. At the same time, farmer Sharon Palmer and Weston A. Price Foundation volunteer chapter leader Victoria Bloch Coulter were arrested. All three were charged with Section 182A-Conspiracy to Commit a Crime. Bond for James Stewart was set at $123,000. Bail for Bloch is recommended at $60,000. Bail for Palmer is recommended at $121,000.

All this, in a state where raw milk is perfectly legal to sell, and even available through retail stores. The issue seems to be the club’s use of a herdshare or boarding agreement for its dairy goats. Recently, the California Department of Food and Agriculture issued a cease-and-desist order to a farmer boarding dairy animals for the animal owners. Another farmer, Mike Hulme of Evergreen Acres Goat Farm in San Jose, received a cease-and-desist letter from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office. Hulme and several people with ownership interest in goats kept at the farm are suing the state and county for interfering with their right to enter into a livestock boarding contract.

The state insists the farmers need dairy licenses to conduct such operations.

“It is apparent that there is an orchestrated effort on the part of public health officials to curb raw dairy access in California, and around the nation,” declares Pete Kennedy, Esq., President of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.

Arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow in Department 30, Los Angeles Superior Court, Fifth Floor, Criminal Justice Center, 210 W. Temple St., Los Angeles. Court opens at 8:30 a.m. The District attorney’s office says it is likely they are to go before the judge during the morning session.

A protest rally on the Los Angeles Courthouse Steps is planned for tomorrow morning, when the three food rights activists are before the judge. Citizens concerned about access to healthy, locally produced foods are urged to attend.

Concerned citizens are asked to donate to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, an organization that works to protect and expand consumer access to whole, unprocessed foods of their choice, and to pave the way for unregulated, direct trade between farmer and consumer. Visit their website for more details on food freedom and raw milk issues.

Here’s part two, with Jacques Peretti, this episode is about super sized portions, among other things:

Here’s the text about the video, from youtube:

Publicerad den 28 aug 2012

Jacques Peretti investigates how the concept of ‘supersizing’ changed our eating habits forever. How did we – once a nation of moderate eaters – start to want more?

Speaking to Mike Donahue, former McDonalds Vice President, Peretti explores the history behind the idea of supersizing. 40 years ago, McDonalds hired David Wallerstein, a former cinema manager who had introduced the idea of selling larger popcorn servings in his Chicago cinema. Wallerstein realised that people would eat more but they didn’t like the idea of appearing gluttonous by going back for seconds. By increasing the portion sizes and the cost, he could sell more food. In 1972, he introduced the idea to McDonalds and their first large fries went on sale.

By the 1980s, we were eating more – and eating more often. Perretti speaks with industry professionals to examine the story behind the introduction of value meals, king-size snacks and multi-buy promotions. How did the advertising industry encourage us to eat more often?

The programme also explores the developments in dietary advice – by 2003, the Chief Medical Officer was warning of an ‘obesity time bomb.’ Peretti speaks to obesity expert Professor Philip James, who made recommendations in his 1996 report that the food industry should cease targeting children in their advertisements. He also speaks with Professor Terry Wilkin, who led a pioneering study into childhood weight gain; and former Labour MP David Hinchliffe, who chaired the 2003 Parliamentary Select Committee on Health

And here is part 3:

Publicerad den 28 aug 2012

Jacques Peretti examines assumptions about what is and is not healthy. He also looks at how product marketing can seduce consumers into buying supposed ‘healthy foods’ such as muesli and juices, both of which can be high in sugar.

He speaks with Simon Wright, an ‘organic consultant’ for Sainsbury’s in the 1990s, who explains how the food industry cashed in on the public’s concerns around salmonella, BSE and GM crops. By 1999 the organic industry was worth over £605M, a rise of 232% within two years.

How did the mainstream food producers compete? Peretti speaks with Kath Dalmeny, former policy director at the Food Commission, who explains some of the marketing strategies used by mainstream food producers to keep our custom.

The programme also explores the impact of successive government initiatives and health campaigns, such as the proposal of ‘traffic light labelling’, the introduction of which the food industry lobbied hard against.

But in 2012, when we have an Olympic Games sponsored by McDonalds and Coca Cola, has anything changed?

I’m watching part 2 in that TV-series about food that makes us fat, this time they have the theme Supersized, and how it began (in Chicago, David Wallerstein “invention”)

One thing they are taiking about in that program was an appetite and behavior study, from 1974 in New York, made by a psychology professor (Anthony Sclafani). In his research he tried to get laboratory rats to overeat. However, on a diet of rat food, it was a slow process. He was looking for a rapid weight gain, so after trying several high fat diets, he told his graduate student to go to the supermarket and buy food that people liked to eat. It was chocolate chips cookies, candy and milk. The rats started to overeat immediately. The researchers were surprised over how rapid it was, and basically all the animals were overeating. And they started to gain weight right away, from the next day, and each day it continued to increase, and they reached a new level of body weight. Given the sugary, fatty food in abundance, the rats ate until they became obese. And there’s a reason why – rats share the same biological drive as humans. They seek out high calory food, in times of plenty, to be sure of survival, when the food get scarce.
Humans are biological programmed to find high energy food. If we only eat a little bit of this food, or if it’s only occasionally available, there’s nothing inherently wrong with sugar and fat. It’s just the abundance of it that makes it very difficult to resist. Some people refer to it as the toxic food environment.
Sclafanis research held within it a serious warning.The behavior he observed in rats would be repeated in humans. For the food industry it represented a lucrative opportunity. They now knew what Sclafani knew, that we human find the hardest to resist food rich in sugar and fat.